Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit Cracks Cold Case

Monday

Mar 25, 2013 at 10:48 AM

Stephanie TaylorStaff Writer

Two brutal killings of two young Tuscaloosa women in the spring and summer of 1978 put the community on edge. In both cases, 18-year-old women had been sexually assaulted and strangled after hanging out with friends at a local disco. Two other women were victims of similar attempts, but escaped with their lives. Teresa Carol White and Regina Carol Quarles did not. The bodies of both women were found beaten and strangled with articles of their own clothing, four months apart. A Tuscaloosa News reporter wrote in September 1978 that the attacks “created a whirlwind of rumor and a climate of fear unprecedented for this community.”White's homicide was the only one of those cases that remained unsolved for nearly 35 years. On Monday, investigators arrested the man who has been the prime suspect all along.Investigators have said over the years that they strongly suspected James Michael Hayes, 57, but didn't have enough evidence to charge him.In 1978, Hayes was found guilty of killing Quarles and pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of the other victims. He is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole.Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Tommy Smith wrote a letter protesting Hayes' release before a parole hearing in 2003.“James Michael Hayes is a sadistic, sociopathic killer,” he wrote. “He will always be a terrible danger to women and must never be released from prison.”Investigators began to look at White's case again last May, said Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit commander Capt. Loyd Baker. They interviewed Hayes again and spoke to new witnesses before presenting the evidence to a grand jury, which returned an indictment for capital murder.“Hayes has been a suspect since early in the investigation,” Baker said.He was charged with capital murder Monday and could face the death penalty if convicted. Evidence led the grand jury to charge him with murder during the commission of rape and sodomy.White was found dead in a wooded area near the Lake Nicol spillway on April 20, 1978, after disappearing from the Supermarket Discotheque on Greensboro Avenue near Jug Factory Road. Her clothing was found buried under pine straw nearby, except for her scarf that was still around her neck.White was last seen walking from the Supermarket Disco at 1:30 a.m. April 15, 1978. Witnesses told police at the time that she had argued with her boyfriend, who left the disco, according to Tuscaloosa News archives. She remained there with her friends, who told police that she had refused when Hayes asked her to dance several times. A security guard at the club reported that he had seen him leave shortly after her. Her parents reported her missing the next day after learning that she did not show up at work.Two men on their way to work at 6:45 a.m. five days later found her body, about 35 yards from the road by the spillway and in open view. Investigators at the time said that her body had likely been moved so it would be easier to find. Quarles, also 18, disappeared from the Supermarket Disco four months later.She was last seen there Friday, Aug. 25, 1978. Friends had seen her dancing with Hayes that night, according to The News' archives.Children playing near the entrance of Branscomb Apartments off Alabama Highway 69 South found her body the following Monday morning. Her clothes were missing, except for the bra around her neck. She had been strangled. The same morning, a man called DCH Regional Medical Center's emergency room to report where her body could be found.Hayes' mother found a heart-shaped onyx earring that belonged to Quarles in her car and turned it over to police. Part of a broken necklace was also found in the car. The other half was found near Quarles' body. Hayes, 23 at the time, was charged and a jury found him guilty of murder six months later.Tire tracks similar to those on Hayes' mother's car were found near both scenes. Investigators have told The News several times during the past 35 years that the similarities in the cases led them to suspect Hayes in White's death.Baker didn't elaborate about what led them to charge Hayes now. “The investigators found additional witness information,” he said. “The suspect was also re-interviewed.”Hayes had pleaded guilty to attempted murder and the attempted rape of two other young women in April and May 1978. In both cases, he tried to strangle the women. Three of the four attacks happened between 1 and 3 a.m. on a Saturday and also originated at the Supermarket Lounge, which the Tuscaloosa City Commission forced to close by revoking the business' dancing license after the attacks.One of the victims testified at Hayes' parole hearing in 2008.She told the parole board that Hayes followed her to her apartment in May 1978 and began to choke her, unaware that her boyfriend was also at the apartment. The boyfriend pulled Hayes off her and held him until police arrived.“After he strangled me, I asked him why and he said he was sick and needed help,” Sherry Nichols said at the 2008 hearing. “I had been a friend.”He later pleaded guilty to assault with intent to murder Nichols.On April 28, 1978 — a week after White's body was found — Hayes picked up a woman at the Supermarket Disco around 1 a.m. and took her to a friend's house. He returned her to her car around 3 a.m., Baker said. He followed her home, got out of his car and asked for a goodnight kiss. Baker said that he began to kiss and choke her. As she was about to lose consciousness, she made enough noise to alert family members, who stopped the attack. Hayes later pleaded guilty to assault with intent to murder and assault with intent to ravish in that case.Hayes was transported Monday morning from Draper Correctional Facility in Elmore to the Tuscaloosa County Jail, where he was charged, Baker said. The homicide department's three-man cold case unit formed in May 2012. Baker said that Investigator Marty Sellers continued working the case even after he was promoted and assigned to a different unit.White, who would have been 53 this year, had two brothers and was the daughter of a Baptist minister and his wife. An attempt to reach them Monday was unsuccessful.